


Not in the System

by Harky21



Series: KRTKweek2k16 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, KuroTsuki Week 2016, M/M, Museums, Prompt: Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 20:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7376479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harky21/pseuds/Harky21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kei likes systems. His new coworker may mess up that up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not in the System

Every museum has a system and everything in the museum, from people to objects, has a place within the system.

Kei liked systems. He liked patterns. He liked when they aligned and matched. He found them extremely useful. And Kei had learned the system. Every aspect of it in every job he’d had. And it worked perfectly.

What made a system even better, in Kei’s humble opinion, was a routine. And with a job like Head Curator of Paleontological Collections, routine was necessary. Kei loved his job. The freedoms that came with his position were immense. He was allowed to research anything he liked, design educational (and high-tech) exhibits, and keep up on all current events in his field with ease. With so many responsibilities a day needed structure. So he had one.

This structure began and ended hidden away from the world in the back rooms.

The back rooms of the museum had always been Kei’s favorite place. Ever since he started volunteering as an undergraduate, no matter which institution, what his position was, the places people seldom ventured were his favorite. Tall shelves filled with boxes, cabinets with numerous drawers, everything labeled and catalogued. Hidden corners with treasures around every bend, the smell of cardboard and earth hanging in the air. A place where you could think away from chatty coworkers in the labs and the hussle and bussle of the masses wandering around the exhibits. The back rooms were, more or less, his sanctuary.

“Hey, Tsukishima.”

A sanctuary easily broken by the museum director. He sighed and turned away from the drawer he was looking through, trying to find the Ashdown Maniraptoran vertebrae in the museum’s collection. (These were proving more difficult to find due to the barely legible scrawl on the tags. He really needed to have an intern go through and make sure they were all readable and in the right places.)

“Yes, Sugawara-san?”

“The new conservationist is here. We need you to come greet him,” he smiled sweetly.

Kei frowned. He hadn’t planned any meetings today and he had his hands full at the moment trying to come up with the concepts for next year’s exhibits. But that smile meant he couldn’t get out of it.

He tried anyway.

“Shouldn’t he be meeting with Akaashi-san?” Kei asked, turning back to continue going through the current drawer he had out. Akaashi ran the conservation labs. He was Kei’s equal in the museum hierarchy, and much better with people.

“Kuroo-san’s just finished meeting with him. Also his specialty is chemical treatments for fossils, so I really think you should introduce yourself. He’ll be in the back quite often,” Sugawara replied.

Kei adjusted his glasses. He knew the fossils needed attention, but the idea of a new person floating about the back rooms wasn’t very pleasant.

“And since you have extremely strict guidelines for this area, I also thought it’d be best if you explain your expectations” his smile grew.

Kei sighed. Sugawara had a point. (He always had a point). “Ok, I’m coming,” he replied, making a mental note of what he’d already sifted through in the box he was working on.

Sugawara’s face relaxed some and he turned, waiting for Kei to follow.

They fell into step next to each other as they went down the plain concrete hall, footsteps echoing on the linoleum tiled floor.

“As a colleague I hope that you can help Kuroo-san find his bearings here. He’s quite skilled and we were lucky he agreed to this position,” Sugawara continued as they turned into a much warmer hall lined with dark oak doors leading into the offices.

“If he’ll be working with my collections he’ll need to find them fast,” Kei replied. He had a system, and no one went outside of that system. The first time an intern did Kei had chewed him out so hard that the staff _still_ talked about it. But that’s what you get for putting a Neocomian box  in the Gallic section.

Sugawara stopped at the end of the hall in front of the conference room. “Just give him a chance, ok? He said one of the reasons he took the position was to work with you.”

Kei’s eyebrows shot up, but he wasn’t given a chance to respond. Sugawara had already opened the door.

“Kuroo-san,” Sugawara greeted him warmly. “This is our head paleontological curator, Tsukishima Kei. Tsukishima-san, our newest conservationist on staff, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

Kei paused mid step as his eyes landed on the man in the room.

He was stunning. A strong jaw, broad shoulders, slim waist. And when he stood he was tall. Not as tall as Kei, but that wasn’t unusual.

What was unusual was how casually dressed he was, how his hair seemingly defied physics, and how when their eyes met a large, warm lop-sided grin spread on his lips.

He bowed. “It’s a pleasure, Tsukishima-san. I look forward to working with you.”

Kei swallowed. _Even his voice is nice._ Then, remembering himself, Kei bowed in return, shaking thoughts of his appearance away. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Good, now, Tsukishima, could you please give Kuroo-san a tour of the back?” Sugawara gave him the “It’s not an option” smile again.

“Of course, please follow me, Kuroo-san,” he turned to head back out the door, not waiting for the other man. As he took quick steps down the hall he began to mentally scold himself. He’d stared too long earlier.

“So, how long have you worked here?” The man asked good naturedly, already having caught up and fallen into step beside him.

Kei hated small talk, so he kept his reply short.

“Longer than you.”

The other man, to Kei’s surprise, laughed. “I’m pretty sure everyone currently here has worked here longer than me. But I was wondering about how many years,” he gave another crooked smile. _Those shouldn’t be legal_.

Kei kept his gaze straight down the hall. “Five.”

“Really? And as a head curator the whole time?  You don’t seem that old,” the dark brunette replied looking Kei over.

“I went through school quickly,” Kei replied simply.

“Where did you go?”

“You can look on the staff page of the museum’s website.”

Another laugh. _Is this man sane?_

“Not one for small talk, I take it?”

Kei glanced to the side, studying Kuroo. He had a twinkle in his eye, mirth in his smile.

“No,” Kei replied after a moment, pausing at the metal door that led into the collections room. He looked fully at his new coworker again. Taking in his sturdy frame. He had on a deep maroon dress shirt and dark jeans that hugged him in _exactly_ the right places.

Kei swallowed and quickly turned his attention away from the man to the code lock on the door.

“This is the paleontological collections room. All fossils are housed here,” he keyed in the code and lead Kuroo into the cavernous room.

“The room is organized by period, epoch, then age. If a specimen is only able to be sorted at the period or epoch level they are placed on the full level top shelves. We also have a mystery box, from excavations in each period as well,” Kei pointed to the closest shelf as an example.

“Are the fossils in the mystery boxes period’s based on the context the fossils were found in?” Kuroo asked quickly, eyes sweeping around the room, taking it in.

The question caught Kei slightly aback. _Does he actually have field experience?_

“Yes, they are,” he replied, glancing at the other man.

“So the boxes placed on the top shelves are fossils we only have context for by period and then as you go down the shelves, the boxes get more specific by epoch and then by age. Are the fossils dates just based on context or is there any absolute dating as well?”

“Fossils that have had other dating techniques used are in separate boxes from fossils dated purely from context. They’re labeled and it should be noted in the database as well,” Kei explained.

“What’s your system for item removal? Previous places I’ve worked worked have had anything from manual sign out books, to databases,” he looked at Kei expectantly.

Kei’s brow knitted slightly. He hadn’t expected the man to ask _all_ the right questions…

“We go by database and manual,” he walked over to the nearby desk and computer. He sat down, quickly pulling up the database. Kuroo came and settled behind him leaning forward with one hand propping him on the desk for balance. Kei was much more aware of the proximity than he’d like to be, as well as the muscles the shirt accentuated in that position.

“All specimens have been numbered and catalogued. You can type the number directly into the database and it should come up.” Kei typed in one of his favorite fossils currently on display (a nest of fossilized brontosaurus eggs). “The piece should come up and you’ll be able to see if it’s on display, in storage, in a lab, or being loaned out here,” he hovered the mouse over the appropriate box. “To change it’s status you just click and pick from the drop menu. You’ll be in the system soon so it’ll track that you made the change and there’s also a menu for which lab it’s in.”

“Ok, that seems easy enough,” Kuroo mused.

Kei jumped slightly, the other man’s voice much closer to his ear than he’d anticipated, it made his skin tingle.

“Yes,” Kei pushed the seat back, standing quickly and walking over to the closest shelf where he knew a piece was out. He pulled down the box he was looking for, placing it carefully on one of the tables before he opened it and pulled out the bag he was looking for.

“Once the item is actually removed you leave a note on one of these slips that states where it is as well.”

“Extra precaution for if the database goes down?” Kuroo asked, leaning against the desk now, arms crossed, like this was _his_ area already.

“Yes,” Kei stated succinctly, sending a small glare of disapproval in the other’s direction. “Any other questions?”

“Is there indication as to fossil type in the database as well?” Kuroo had turned to look to the computer again.

“Yes, it’s in the second column. I’ll have to get you a code sheet,” Kei stated, beginning to look around for a post it to jot a note on.

He then realized the post-its were in the desk… behind Kuroo…

Kei looked over at him, finding the other man’s eyes already focused on the blond.

“Yes?” Kuroo asked, both eyebrows raising slightly, like he _hadn’t_ just been caught looking.

Kei narrowed his eyes. “I need to get in the drawer you’re leaning against.”

“Oh, this one?” Kuroo stood again, and pointed down at the drawer.

“Yes,” Kei replied flatly.

The other man just slid to the other desk corner, eyes following Kei as he walked over and opened the drawer, picking up the post-its from precisely where they should be.

He jotted down that he need to make a database key for Kuroo.

Kuroo just kept watching him.

It made Kei’s stomach flip.

“Is that all?” Kei asked when he finished.

“Will I be able to access this room whenever I need to? Or should I find you when I need to get something,” he smiled playfully.

Kei’s eyes shot back up to him. He hadn’t thought about that. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Kuroo having full access, but he also didn’t particularly like the idea of his day being interrupted. They both messed up his system.

“I’ll need to talk to Sugawara-san about what areas he wants to give you access to,” Kei covered quickly.

“Ok,” Kuroo agreed, nodding his head in understanding.

Kei sighed. “Then that’s it. Akaashi should have a list of items for this section that need work. So please talk to him.” He turned to place the bag he still had out back into it’s box and the box back into its place on the shelf.

When he was finished he turned back around. Kuroo was still there, looking at him expectantly.

“What?” he huffed.

“Nothing, nothing,” he shook his head and stood straight again. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Tsukishima-san,” he smiled and began to walk out.

He paused. Then turned slowly back.

Kei raised his eyebrow questioningly.

“How do you get to the conservation lab from here?” he asked, biting his lip, smiling sheepishly. _Oh god, he’s cute too_.

“Go to the right, go down the hall and take your first left, then it’s in the lab hall on your second right,” he sighed, sounding more exasperated than he actually was.

“Should I close the door?” Kuroo raised his brows.

“Yes please,” he said.

“Will do. I’m sure I’ll see you later today, Tsukishima-san, once I get the list,” he smiled crookedly again.

Kei simply nodded.

Kuroo gave one last wave before he left.

Once the door closed, Kei released a very long breath. He sat down at the desk again. Staring blankly at the database page that was still up.

This new conservationist… This Kuroo Tetsurou… he might mess up Kei’s system.

**Author's Note:**

> And Prompt 2: Work is complete! Wooo! So what I am doing this week I think is writing one larger piece (hopefully for the first day, but who knows) then doing a tiny ficlet that I just post on my [tumblr](http://midnightmooncatcher.tumblr.com/) the day I don't post the longer piece. Hope you all enjoyed the nerds.


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